Christmas in Spring time

Someone mentioned today that Christmas is coming. I must admit, I am not sure I would have known if they hadn’t said anything. I think Vicki has a few more reminders – the socking great big Christmas tree she had to find space for, unwrap, erect and decorate; the fact shops have holiday opening hours displayed out front hence requiring even more planning and forethought than usual; the slightly strange thought of having one of her (slightly more portly) colleagues dress up as Santa to do the rounds on Christmas day; oh and the fact she gets to cook Christmas dinner for 5 – and then not sit down to eat it! At least the leftovers should be good.

The expected crowds have started to materialise in town, but not to the extent we maybe thought. There is definitely more of a buzz than last week but it is by no means the hordes and hordes of tourists we had been promised. Apparently the ski school is struggling to give work to all the instructors this coming week, although New Year sounds like it could be quite stressful. And as for the February half-term that doesn’t even bear thinking about. But I do have a group of 3 or 4 children to take care of (teaching doesn't really come into it very much when they are quite young) every morning this week, so that should at least keep me out of trouble for part of the day. Plus it means I can go skiing in the afternoon if I want to! Or go to the pub...

And the weather has taken a turn for the better after two weeks of pretty solid snow. The sun is well and truly out and the temperature is a totally tropical Lilting +7 degrees. Sitting on the balcony having lunch with our sunglasses on, Vicki and I decided that this was indeed the life. Who needs rain and wind and tubes...? The return to real life could be quite harsh come May. But until then, we are fully kitted out in our respective Vebier accoutrements - nice picture below for you all taken on our balcony. Please note the glare from the really hot sun and the clear blue skies above the mountains in the background. Just in case you missed them...

And this is me in my full “Bananaman” outfit (I have actually been called that on the slopes by a small English child)– at least you can’t miss us on the slopes! And the bottom one is my best C&A pose to show off our classy black soft shell fleeces, complete with yellow trim. Nice.

From both Vicki and me, we would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas and we hope you all enjoy the holidays. Spare a thought for us poor souls having to work all through this time of year (I won’t mention the fact we also get to ski quite a lot, as that apparently doesn’t do much for the sympathy side of things...).

MERRY CHRISTMAS!